Black Bean Burgers

So lately I have been eating a lot of black bean veggie burgers for two reasons. One, they are really quick. Two, they're pretty freaking tasty. So usually I have them on toasted multigrain with salsa and cheese or mustard. Or no bread, just salsa. This is my sister, Jenn's way. But I think they're too expensive, so this weekend I'm going to make my own.

I'm thinking a can of black beans, half crushed and half rough chopped, corn, egg, bread crumbs, onion, garlic, tomato paste, and salt and pepper. They have to be fairly easy to make, and much more cost effective than my current purchases.

Don't get me wrong I really like a good burger, but I have high standards. I've been to a few to many BBQs where the burgers are frankly murdered. For one, the peeps are cooking frozen burgers and then grinding the spatula into them to drain all possible juices out of them. I know these frozen, cheap burgers feed the masses, but they don't tantalize my taste buds.

Perhaps I can convince one of my grill-owning friends to host a burger cooking extravaganza. Veggie burgers, real burgers, lamb burgers, even bison perhaps. Even a "sliders" event perhaps.

Bruised

So at my softball game, I was set to take a routine ground ball at third and then got the good ol' bad hop that left be bruised. The ball was hit hard, it hit off my wrist (as seen in the below pic) and then right to my jaw. Let's just say the guy was safe at first. The field is bumpy folks. This is two bruises in two weeks.


If you look closely, or in real life, you can see the laces of the ball. In the pic, they are just below the purple mark inside the red circle.

Tomato Tart

Jenn and Martyn made this delectable delight for the 4th. I took pictures while waiting for the ride over to the party.

This is how Jenn described the process.

"Rolled out the dough and baked it and sprinkled parm as it came out of the oven. Then we mixed egg whites, ricotta cheese, thyme and spread it over the baked dough. Cut up farmer's market yellow and red tomatoes and spread over the tart and brushed it with olive oil and thyme, salt and pepper and baked until the tomotoes were roasted. Garnished with fresh basil. Yum!"



It was fantastic, even though I only got a few bites.

Putting the Roll in Nutroll...for the Fourth

Confounded about what to make for the 4th of July party scene, I turned to the freezer and the handy favorite, puff pastry.



And what goes really well with puff pastry, well everything. But this time I turned to nuts. Nutroll to be more exact. It's exactly as it sounds and despite being covered in flour and gooey-ness, I snapped a few photos.

So first the ingredients.

Almonds, check.


Cashews, check.

And of course rum and honey. I also used cinnamon, dark brown sugar, cardamom, clove, and everyone's favorite, butter. I know this is baking, technically, but I didn't measure a thing. And since the puff was pre-made (yes I cheated with good ol' Pepperidge Farms), I was well on my way.

First, I rolled out the puff on a floured cutting board.


I then brushed it with a liberal amount of the rum and honey mixture.

Next I added an equally liberal amount of the brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and clove mixture.


Then the almonds and cashews, that I pulsed for about a minute in my food processor.


Then I put the "roll" in nutroll.


I made sure to butter the puff as I rolled to keep it all together, and to make it that much more buttery.


Then onto a lightly oiled sheet tray.


And into the oven at 400 degrees (F).


So I baked it at 400 for about 20 minutes. I checked after 15, and it needed sometime. In the meantime, I made a really simple icing. Powdered sugar and milk, with a splash of vanilla. Again, no measuring. But you only need a little bit of milk, like a few tablespoons to about 1/4 cup of powdered sugar.

This is the end result.



In retrospect, I would have used more butter on the outside of the roll to give it more of a sheen. But it was tasty.